Away from It All: A Moment
by Arlene
Summary: Set during "Away from It All." Tim and Cassie's points of view
1. Tim

Away from It All: A Moment - Tim

Disclaimer: DC owns the characters. Not mine, never will be. No money was made from this piece of fiction.

Set during "Away from It All." Please read/reread if necessary.

Away from It All: A Moment

By Arlene

Tim's POV

Now that his body was acclimated to the heat and humidity of the room, he relaxed and just stood, soaking in the running water. Just then, he felt another draft, and this time the room's temperature dropped noticeably. At the same time, he also had the peculiar prickly feeling on the back of his neck that meant he was being watched. At the sudden gasp behind him, he simultaneously snatched his towel to cover himself and picked up his bottle of shampoo as a weapon. When he saw his would-be attacker,

"GAH!"

"HERA!"

Cassie found herself looking at a pair of incredibly blue eyes. Funny, she never noticed how blue they really were.

Tim dropped the bottle and gathered the towel more closely around him. He sputtered, "Cassie, what the fu--What're you--get out!!" His voice echoed throughout the tiled room. Alarmed at his roar, she shut the door and flew out of the building at fast as she could. Seeing the door close, he immediately dropped himself on the floor, the coolness of it chilling his bare bottom. 

***

Okay, Drake, take deep, calming breaths. Breathe.

She saw me naked!

Calm down before you start hyper-ventilating, you idiot.

In the buff! Not a stitch! Naked as a jaybird!

What did she see?

Close your eyes, clear your mind, think of a white blank space. Peace. Calm. Still. Deep breath through your nose, exhale through mouth.

Okay. Better. Now what, bird-brain? Take it by the numbers.

I'm taking a shower, and Cassie walks in. Well, peeks. Watches. So, how long was she standing there?

Long enough. Fraggin' crud monkeys!

But what did she actually see? Definitely my back. Maybe I should consider working on a tan . . . ?

Knock it off, Boy Blunder. Concentrate.

But she saw me naked!

Why is this bothering me so much? I mean, c'mon, I've faced down Joker, Two-Face, all of those homicidal maniacs, and won. I mean, this is Cassie, Cassandra Sandsmark, Wonder Girl, my teammate, my friend. I trust her to watch my back . . .

Baaad choice of words, Timbo.

Oh God. She'll tell Cissie, and Cissie'll mention it to Bart, and Bart will tell . . . the entire free world. Probably parts of the unfree, too.

Gotham Gazette headlines: "Robin in the Nude! Wonder Girl Sees All!"

Now, stop it! You're being paranoid. Again. Big surprise there.

Man, I bet this sort of thing never happens to Dick. I'll bet *he* never had a girl walk in while he's taking a shower. That schmuck. I'll bet he'd even enjoy it. The perv. 

Be fair, Drake. Who's the schmuck here? You are. Student of the Bat. Squire of the Dark Knight. Boy Wonder. And then she just opens the door and gets an eyeful. Just like that.

Wait, hold it. What was she doing anyway? *She's* the one in the guy's locker room. So what business does *she* have walking in on me? Hmph. Probably trying to catch Kon. I mean, by now, she's old enough to figure out when someone's, uh, indisposed.

Old enough?

Cripes! She's only fourteen! Do they cover sex ed when they're fourteen?

What did she see?

Why's this bothering me so much? Because she's my friend, we work together, I'll see her again. And again and again. And she's a frickin' girl! And I'm supposed to be the frickin' leader! I'm supposed to be in control!

Whoa, boy. You're thinking like a Bat. Great, now I'm scaring myself.

Okay, Fearless Leader, so take control. You yelled at her, she's probably feeling pretty rotten. Do some damage control.

Could be worse, Timbo. She could've laughed.

End


	2. Cassie

Away from It All: A Moment - Cassie

Cassie's POV

Now that his body was acclimated to the heat and humidity of the room, he relaxed and just stood, soaking in the running water. Just then, he felt another draft, and this time the room's temperature dropped noticeably. At the same time, he also had the peculiar prickly feeling on the back of his neck that meant he was being watched. At the sudden gasp behind him, he simultaneously snatched his towel to cover himself and picked up his bottle of shampoo as a weapon. When he saw his would-be attacker,

"GAH!"

"HERA!"

Cassie found herself looking at a pair of incredibly blue eyes. Funny, she never noticed how blue they really were.

Tim dropped the bottle and gathered the towel more closely around him. He sputtered, "Cassie, what the fu--What're you--get out!!" His voice echoed throughout the tiled room. Alarmed at his roar, she shut the door and flew out of the building at fast as she could. 

***

Out! Out! Gotta get outta here! I'll be free when I get into the sky! There!

Omigosh, omigosh, omigosh. He's mad, really mad. At me! I mean, I've seen him mad, furious even, but never at me. Not like that. A cloud! There! Maybe I can just duck in, and he won't find me.

Okay, safe. Calm down, girl, slow down and think. That's what Rob would do. Hm, I guess that's what they mean by "irony."

This is all my fault. I mean, I didn't mean to look. Well, um, the first time, at least.

And how could I possibly think it was Kon? Kon's taller, more built . . . And how'd I miss the scar the first time around? 

Y'know, I've checked both of them out at the beach. (Who wouldn't?) We're all wearing swimsuits, the guys are half-naked, and they go around strutting their stuff. Well, no, not really. Kon's strutting his stuff, Bart's always zipping off somewhere, and Rob's just . . . kickin' back, I guess. I've never seen him totally relax before.

Who'd have thought that Rob'd be so skinny? I mean, he's toned and everything, and he's definitely got muscles . . . must be his armor.

Hera, I am so totally screwed. Who would've thought that Rob would be so . . . embarrassed?

That look on his face . . . those eyes. Big blue eyes. Okay, so they were big because he was surprised. But, that first look, when he recognized me, he looked so . . . human.

Well, duh, yeah, we all know he's human, but I mean, vulnerable, I guess. Not just *human*, but a person, y'know? 

But he's supposed to be so perfect: perfect fighter, perfect detective, perfect leader. Partner to the Bat, Zeus' sake!

Even when he's injured, he's still in control. He acts like it's nothing, and he keeps giving directions, and he just keeps going. Nothing stops him 'til either he's hit so hard that he's out or the battle's over. He's got no powers, but he's still the smartest, the toughest, and he'll outlast everyone.

But that one moment, he was just another guy. A guy with nothin' but a towel, but still, just a guy.

That was just so . . . weird.

It's like, like when you find out that Santa's really just your parents buying you stuff and sticking it under your tree while you're sleeping. Or like, when you find out that the Tooth Fairy isn't some pretty little lady dressed in a little pink ballerina outfit with tiny wings and a tiny wand and wearing a tiny crown who magically changes your tooth to a quarter, but is really your mom sneaking in when she thinks you're asleep. Okay, so yeah, I'm still smarting from that one.

So, how do I deal with this? Not the talk with Rob, I can't even think about that yet, but this other thing: Robin the normal guy.

Again, he's, like, supposed to be perfect. Well, he never actually said that, but we all just thought . . . hm. Is that the problem? The way I'm thinking about him?

I mean, I want to be like him. He's strong, intelligent and he doesn't have powers. I want to be like that. If my powers ever fail me, would I be a sitting duck for any schmoe who wants to rule the world? I don't like the idea that I might be . . . helpless. And Rob's definitely not helpless. Even in the shower, he manages to find a weapon. Not that it would hurt me, but still.

'Sfunny, but I think I respect him even more now. So he doesn't deal well with every single situation that comes up. I bet this sort of thing's not even in the Superhero Manual. "In the event that you're caught naked in the shower, do step A, then proceed to step B. If you're caught half-naked, skip to section D."

So what now, Cass? Think. 

He may act and look like any other guy, but he's not. He's a guy doing all these great things, stuff that I bet Kon even never imagined, but still a guy with normal-type problems, strange as they are. And now, I guess I can relate even more to him. What a way to figure all this out, though.

"Cassie, would you please come back? I'm not mad, honest. But I think we need to talk." 

What? Oh shoot! Back to problem number one. Okay, time to face the music. As nice as this little epiphany (love that word!) is, I gotta go back. So, how do I talk to him? I can't even look him in the eye anymore. 

But then again, I can't hide from him forever. We're part of a team, we have to rely on each other. And we're friends. I gotta get this over with cuz, yeah, that's what friends do.

End


End file.
